4 parks in 1 day transport

[bigstuff]

I will be staying at POFQ and have a 1 day park hopper. Just going to visit all the new stuff in each park from the past few years. We will also have a car.
Should I drive from park to park or use Disney transport? Thought we would go to Epcot first(early admission day) and then work our way counterclockwise to Hollywood, AK, MK, and then maybe back to Epcot for World Showcase if we have the energy before heading back to POFQ.
So, is there transport between all these parks or should I take my car to each?

 

[supersnoop]

Yes, there is park-to-park transportation available. Personally, I'd park at the TTC, take the monorail to Epcot, go out the International Gateway and take the boat or walk to Hollywood Studios, then take a bus to Animal Kingdom, then bus to Magic Kingdom, and take the monorail to return to my car at the TTC.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

There is direct bus transportation between all four major parks at WDW -- except between the MK and Epcot, which involves two monorail lines and a transfer at the TTC (or a ferry and a monorail).

Regardless of whether you use WDW Transportation or a car, you'll spend an annoying amount of your day traveling between the parks.

You'll probably spend less time if you use WDW Transportation. The buses and monorails leave from locations near each park's main gate. The risk is that you might wait 20 minutes for a bus (then again, a bus might be ready to go right after you get to the bus stop).

If you use a car, you may find yourself parking far from park entrances and waiting a long time for parking lots trams to and from your car. If you have to take a tram TO AND FROM your car up to five times (plus the monorail or ferry at MK), you will chew up a lot of your day in parking lots.

If I were planning to do Epcot/FW (early entry) --> DHS --> DAK --> MK --> Epcot/WS in single day and I were staying at POFQ with a car, here's what I would do:

Drive POFQ to Epcot and park near the entrance gate because it's early (no tram needed).

Bus Epcot to DHS (although the boat from WS to DHS is an option, it takes a long time because it docks at three resorts on the way).

Bus DHS to DAK.

Bus DAK to MK.

Bus MK to Beach Club or Boardwalk; then walk to Epcot/WS International Gate.

Exit Epcot through main gate; walk to car (which is parked close to the gate) and drive back to POFQ.

 

[bigstuff]

Thanks for all the help! Horace, your plan sounds perfect. Would taking the monorail from MK to Epcot WS in the evening be faster than the bus to the resorts and crossing the bridge?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Thanks for all the help! Horace, your plan sounds perfect. Would taking the monorail from MK to Epcot WS in the evening be faster than the bus to the resorts and crossing the bridge?

If your destination is the back of Epcot's World Showcase, you're probably better off taking the bus to Beach Club or BW -- possibly whichever bus arrives first (the bus stops for these two resorts were near other in the past, but I don't know the current configuration).

If your destination is Epcot's Future World, you're probably better of taking the monorails, even though this means connecting from the Express monorail to the Epcot monorail at the TTC.

The monorail is more fun, especially because it includes the loop through Future World when you're coming from the TTC.

As always when you're relying on WDW Transportation (or parking lot trams for that matter), luck plays a big role. A wait for a bus or boat is typically 0 to 20 minutes. The wait for a monorail should be less, but sometimes you don't get on the first monorail.

Of course, any time you connect, you have to wait twice.